pike Company only a few miles beyond the
town, and this lasted until Saw Pits (the
present Port Chester), beyond which the
Connecticut Turnpike Company took over.
On the lower Post Road the only considerable
stretch that was free was between New
Haven and Saybrook, and, on the upper
road, between Hartford and Springfield.
The turnpike companies had an arrogant
way of cutting straight for an objective, tear
ing up even cemeteries. They were given the
right of eminent domain, so they got what
they wanted. In the cities, they were regarded
with respect, and there was a great deal of
money in them, rather like a public util
ity; but in the country they were hated
and feared.
Eventually a graver charge could be
brought against these companies: They
Carriagem
did not pay. One of the earliest, the pike
1879 fashio
between Philadelphia and Lancaster,
at Brewster
was sensationally successful, inspiring
in New Yor
many others; but this was an exception.
thauto atbodiesr
b
What with their highhanded methods
wright at le
in condemning property, they were be-
--
_
holes for pi
set with lawsuits.
strengthen
The charter usually read that when
"CATALOGUE
OF CARRIAGES
the company had made 12 percent of its
total investment, it could sell out to the state. Except in the case of the Lancaster Pike,
this never did happen. Company after company, including all those operating along the
Boston Post Roads, petitioned for relief. This relief, if granted, took the form of permis
sion to establish an additional tollhouse or two, rather than permission to raise the rates
much. It got so that a traveler had his hand in his pocket half the time.
Yet they failed-and not only because of shunpiking. A few struggled on, but only in
remote places. Long before the i8oo's were half over, most of the turnpike companies
either had surrendered their franchises or were pleading for permission to do so.
There was another development at about mid-century for which similar high hopes
were held-plank roads. These were called "farmers' railroads," and they sometimes
cost only $1,200 to $1,500 a mile to build. They were, literally, made of planks. But wood
didn't last long, and relatively few miles of plank roads were built in New England.
ACROSSAMERICA"
akers of
n a landau
r & Company
rk, a firm
uilt custom
. Wheel
ft drills
ns to
the rims.
JUST AS THE SUCCESS of the 62-mile Lancaster Pike stimulated investment in
many other turnpikes, so the success of the Erie Canal, opened in 1825, caused a
rush of money to canal projects all over the land. New England and Westchester
County, New York, for various reasons, were not much affected by this canal craze.
That the railroad was the coming means of transportation was not clear in the early
days. Railroads were expensive to build. They were dirty, dangerous, noisy. They were
forever breaking down. The big money stayed away from railroads, at first.
Nonetheless, the Boston and Worcester Railroad was completed in 1835. The Western
from Worcester to Springfield, as well as the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, opened
in 1839. Five years later, rails linked Hartford and Springfield, and the New York and
New Haven was chartered. The stagecoach was doomed.
203